A Charming Holiday
by Isabella Poulous
Summary: Emma spends her holiday season with her family figuring out their relationship with one another. One: Emma spends Christmas Eve with her parents, enjoying their company, and sharing stories while decorating. Two: Emma and her father share a few moments together early the day after Christmas. Three: Lunch with the family is a bit awkward, but Emma wouldn't have it any else ways.
1. Part I

A Charming Holiday

**Part One~**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these characters. The only thing I own is the plot of this three-part story.

**A/N**: I know I have been gone for a very long time, but I promise it was worth it. For me and for my followers, I have improved greatly in my writing and editing. Thank you for your reviews and critiques. That helps me continue to improve and hone my skills.

Please let me know what you think, critique is a writer's best friend, in my opinion anyways.

**Acknowledgements:** I have to thank my Perry White/Mother for her slight editing, thesaurus skills, and fresh eyes to go over my story. Without my mother an avid reader and Once Upon a Time fan, as well, I could not have smoothed out my writing wrinkles. I could not have finished this first part.

I also must thank the creators of the show and writers for their wonderful creative spins on the fairy tales that I grew up reading.

I also have to thank my father whom is always encouraging my writing and imagination. He also helps come up with these little plot bunnies. They don't always get finished, but he loves to listen to me read them anyway.

Also, the makers of Word for Apple Computers, without their 'Formal' style choice, my writing would not have improved this much. It continues to frustrate me and challenge me to not end sentences with prepositions, or create fragmented sentences.

No, really, it drives me nuts.

I must also thank Webster's Dictionary, online and hardcopy. It has helped greatly.

* * *

Emma may have been off duty for the night, but her cell for the sheriff's office was not on silent. Anything but silent, considering she had to dump Leroy's drunk ass in jail.

Again…

It was Christmas Eve, and tomorrow as the sheriff, she would have to make sure that the town was safe. Alas, it was a Sherriff's duty. So far, the only dangerous thing this time of year was a drunken Leroy (oh, excuse her, she meant Grumpy. It was crazy but true. ) and a few domestic calls.

It had something to do with Hansel and Gretel fighting over which gingerbread cookie was theirs.

There, in the tiny apartment, Emma curled up on the couch with a warm blanket and a mug of cocoa. She kept her eye on her parents, watching them go through boxes of decorations and a peripheral vision filled with green. She sighed, resting her elbows on her knees while staring at the offending object.

It was a Christmas tree.

Enough said.

"Mary, remind me, again. Why are we putting the tree up and decorating on Christmas Eve?"

Her parents look up from what they're doing at the same time. (Yes, parents. She is finally admitting that is what Snow and James are, maybe not to herself, and maybe not yet. Nevertheless, that is what they are.) Their expressions were almost comical. As if she was the one with three heads and not a crazy self-appointed Christmas decorating elf.

"We did this last year, Emma. It's tradition" Snow shrugs as if her answer explained everything. Her attention now turned back to the box of decorations.

"Yea, because we kept forgetting to put the decorations up earlier. " Emma deadpans rolling her eyes.

"Well, now it's tradition." Snow insists gathering the garland, a mess of gold and silver, up in her arms.

"Are you sure it's not because we put it off until the last minute again?" Emma retorts as she follows her mother from the front closet to the mess of Christmas decorations in the middle of the living room.

Snow glowers at the question, which to her, sounds more like a statement of truth. She would never admit that to the blonde, though.

She is struggling to untangle the garland while Charming sits back on his heels smiling at her frustration. Snow's cheeks were turning the slightest shade of pink in anger and frustration.

Emma walks towards the kitchen, her silhouette disappearing before shortly reappearing and with an extension cord wheel in her hands. Where that was able to be hiding in their tiny kitchen James never knew.

Emma rolls her eyes as she takes a piece of garland from her mother.

"Here, let's try this. If you guys are insisting on doing this whole decorating thing, then I am not making a trip to the store to buy more garland that isn't tangled up." She takes a strand and starts wrapping the garland around the wheel before pausing her movements.

Snow and James stare at their daughter curiously wondering why she stopped. Emma smiles, one that Snow White, as Mary Margret knew all too well.

"Like last year." Emma says wittily before resuming her garland wrapping duties.

Snow groans as Charming looks at her with a knowing smile on his face. "Like, last year?" He asks teasingly.

Emma grinned ready to spill the beans. "Last year our garland was so tangled up that it was almost impossible to untangle. No, scratch that. It was impossible. So of course I offered to help-"

"Right…" Snow interrupted, drawling. "If I remember correctly, when we met for dinner, I asked if you would help me untangle it because I couldn't figure it out. "

"But you got so frustrated later that you admitted over the phone that you broke it!" Emma protested defending herself.

"Only because you said you would help. After your shift."

"I did offer." Emma states off handedly, plopping back on the couch with the wheel of garland now perfectly rolled.

"But you could have kept your cell on and come home. Yet, you said you had a busy night at the station. Which you did not, I know, I checked."

Emma sat stunned at Mary Margaret's words. Her mother was checking on her. She never had someone do that for her, someone care enough about her to do that.

"I did! Leroy was drunk! Who else was going to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't drown in his own vomit!"

"Emma, please. That's a rather crass and crude way of putting it." Charming softly reprimanded, a wink thrown her way to let Emma know that she was right.

"Please, we all know he'd have been fine alone for a few hours. Lord knows he's been tossed in that jail cell enough times. "

Emma blinked owlishly at Mary- Margret's counter argument. She knew her own was weak. There was no actual reason, just Leroy the Grumpy scapegoat. Then her eyes narrowed as a small smirk formed its way onto her mouth.

"And then you called two hours later informing me that i had to go to the store to find garland. And, David, do you know why?" Emma paced back and forth with an ornament in hand, grinning at their conversation.

Snow swallowed thickly. Her cheeks flushing a rather dark pink as she groaned in embarrassment, her hands flying to cover her warm cheeks. Charming raised an eyebrow to snow's obvious embarrassment.

"Actually, I think I do. " he said smoothly. "I know her temper, she ruined the garland didn't she? What did you end up using, tin foil?"

Emma smiled at Charming's joke and his heart swelled with happiness. "Well that was the second, no, wait- the third time, I think, that Snow called. She may have called more but I kept my personal cell on silent after our last argument."

"You put me on silent?" Snow asked, shocked that her daughter screened her calls.

"Anyways, I wouldn't really call it an argument, Emma. More of a..." Snow paused looking for the right word. An expression of thought and concentration with her eyebrows drawn together appeared upon her face and a hand that came to rest upon her cheek.

"Disagreement? Argument?" Charming finished for her, taking one of her hands and pressing a kiss to its palm.

"No, not argument." Snow shook her head taking her hand back to let it rest on her lap.

"Oh please! We both know it was an argument. There was frustration and even voices raised. We argued. Big deal!"

"Emma!" Snow exclaimed, gently smacking Emma's arm with the back of her hand in jest. "We had a heated conversation. That is what we had. "

"Sure, if that's what helps you sleep at night. " Emma gently teased, bending down to place a kiss on her mother's cheek. It was probably the most open form of affection she had ever shown her mother.

Whether it was from the two bottles of wine they had split over dinner or just the spirit of the season, Snow really didn't care which. It was the sweetest thing Emma's done for her. Regardless the simple gesture bought an ear-to-ear grin to Snow's face. She grabbed her daughter's hand dragging Emma down to sit with them.

"So, when she called me up the first thing i could ask her was how badly damaged the garland was! She was so mad at me and insisted it would be ok if i could just come home to help her fix it. "

"Which you did. But it didn't help at all."

"Nope, I took one look and grabbed the garland and tossed it in the garbage, thank you very much. " Emma stated proud of her accomplishment. No matter how small it was. Taking garland away from Mary Margret on Christmas Eve was like pulling teeth. Actually, come to think of it. Pulling teeth was probably easier.

"And I told you to go to the store."

"But you didn't, not at first?" David asks, looking to Emma. Her blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, a piece of tape from their wrapping marathon earlier on her cheek.

"Nah." She shook her head still smiling as if every sentence of the story was getting better. "She actually had tinsel she wanted to use. I was so fed up with it that I went back to the station to check on Leroy, again. It was when i called her on my way home that she didn't really ask, but at the same time she did. "

"Did she just ask outright? Snow would never admit that she made a mistake; she likes to cover it up. " Charming laughed, his green eyes sparkling with joy much like Emma's now do.

"No, I think she didn't want to admit it. So I asked, 'Did you ruin the garland?' and she was completely silent. That was when I knew. So I left Leroy in the jail cell to sleep it off." Emma sat back and stretched her legs out in front of her.

Charming leaned forward reaching across to brush a knuckle against Emma's cheek. Her green eyes sparkled in mirth and her cheeks rosy from laughter. The little sprite that she was had some wonderful stories about hers and Snow's time together. Though, he was sad he missed time together with his girls, he could not be happier that the three of them were together now, and four tomorrow.

"David…" Emma drew out feigning embarrassment from his show of affection. Suddenly she felt a pain on her cheek, looking confused she brought her hand up to rub the stinging skin, only to see him dangle a piece of tape in front of her. His face holding a smile of love for her, his child.

She laughed and pulled the tape from him letting it fall to her side somewhere. Emma stood and made her way to the kitchen in need of a coffee fix.

She puttered around waiting for the coffee to finish brewing and looked around her family's apartment at their handy work. Henry had helped string the lights on the tree earlier that day before Regina picked him up and it looked beautiful, even Emma had to admit that.

Garland taped to the fireplace, stockings hung. The apartment was like a perfect Christmas picture.

The tree was up, beautiful white lights twinkling from within it's oversized branches and star at the top which meant more to all of them for it's symbolization, Neverland.

Neverland, it was a fairytale, with its second star to the right. The first star you wish upon. Though she was a little sad at how their lives in the past went, their future was something they could all build upon.

So yes, the star meant more to Emma then just something to top a tree. It meant family.

It meant future.

It meant love.

It meant everything.

So, once the coffee finished she brought two large mugs with her back to the living room, one black with milk and the other with milk and a packet of cocoa. Her parents smiled and thanked her for her thoughtfulness.

Her parents…

God, it was so weird to call them that, and yet, they were her best friends. The day was perfect and so was the evening. Even though, Emma didn't have Henry for Christmas this year, she had him the day after and New Years. Regina didn't seem to care much for Emma's tradition of watching the New York City Mirror Ball drop. Not that she even seemed to know what that was. Some mayor she was, she probably didn't even know what New York City even _was_.

Emma would have Henry tomorrow. She would pick him up after her shift was over at 9 that night. She was always on call, but it seemed since Graham had died she was alone in this job. She was tired. Constantly working, and though she loved the job, she needed help. She considered asking David for help but was always used to doing things for herself or by herself.

She had constantly needed to remind herself that she was not alone anymore. She had people to help her out, wanting to help her out.

She would ask for help another time, just not today.

Therefore, Christmas this year was spent getting to know her parents better and herself. Because if she was honest with herself, and Emma Swan was hardly perfectly honest with herself, she would realize that this was perfect. In it's own weird sort of way.

Today Emma Swan was honest with herself. She let herself love and opened her heart to others, even if it was for only one day.

Moreover, their own odd little family was perfect the way they were, odd circumstances and all.


	2. Part II

Part 2- A Deputy For Christmas

Thank you readers, reviewers, and visitors.

I must thank my parents for my Once Upon A Time DVD set. I received season one for a Christmas present and have been watching the first season over again.

**A/N**: I had all of this written out before Christmas was even here. This has been in the works for over two weeks now. I wrote this chapter around the 30th of December, it just wasn't fine tuned until the first of January. Unfortunately, I have not had wifi connection for the past month. Thus, I was not able to have this chapter uploaded on time. I have two more chapters for this month: New Years Eve/ Day & Valentines Week.

Enjoy.

* * *

Emma woke early the day after Christmas, as in five in the morning, early.

It was definitely too early if you asked her, but, duty calls. She is the sheriff. Who else was going to keep the town safe from car wrecks, robberies, and keep people in line, drunks from getting out of hand?

It was a thankless job. Ever since the curse broke and free will returned as well as memories, people took advantage of others. They would deal with obstacles in their lives as they would in The Enchanted Forest.

Robberies, damage to properties, it was hell. Did no one check security tapes?

When it was this early in the morning and she had a long day ahead of her, she needed something a hell of a lot stronger than cocoa.

She needed coffee.

She needed strong coffee.

Like very strong, heavy weight champion wrestler, coffee.

Emma tiptoes down the stairs her boots in hand, stepping carefully so she doesn't wake her family. She had already showered and dressed without disturbing the household. There really was no need for anyone to get up this early, so, why wake them?

"Emma?" a voice questioned right as she stepped onto the landing, breaking through the early morning silence.

"Crap!" She exclaims before squinting, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting downstairs.

"James?" She says startled, heart beating erratically. Her boots drop to the floor with a heavy thud. She places a hand over her heart hoping to calm it's thumping to a comfortable and steady beat.

"Yeah. Are you ok? I didn't mean to startle you." He says softly. She looks at him; he was dressed in a flannel shirt and navy cotton pants. His feet bare and a mug in hand, this was likely the most casual that James has looked since he moved in.

"It's ok. You just startled me a bit, that's all." Emma assures him, she moves to sit on the last step.

He gives her a soft smile, eyes crinkling ever so slightly in the outer corners. Then he frowns. "What are you doing up so early?"

She shrugs as if that answers his question, after a moment of pause, she then thinks differently. "Work. " She manages to say as she pulls on her left boot.

It's early, like six a.m early, and he's curious as to why his daughter is leaving so early for work, the day after Christmas, no less.

"This early?" He asks, eyeing the face of the grandfather clock in the living room.

She shrugs again. Apparently shrugging these days answered everything. It was all the rage with the cool kids.

"Never took you for a morning person. " He says simply, shifting his weight from side to side.

"It's the job. I like it and I like it here."

He smiles at her answer, happy that she's comfortable enough to share. Even small reasons for something like she just did.

She smiles at her father then pulls on her other boot, standing when done. "But...it's still a bitch and a half to get up so early, job liking or not. "

He nods, and his smile broadens to a grin. He chuckles softly, "Agreed!"

She eyes his mug curiously. "Is that...coffee? Are you holding out on a caffeine deprived person?"

His laugh comes out short, like a bark almost. "Never, Princess."

He smiles at her look of distaste at the word. "So...coffee then. " he jerks his head towards the kitchen.

Grinning, Emma's eyes twinkle, matching her fathers. "God, yes! A man after my own heart."

This was not funny, especially with knowing what happened in The Enchanted Forest to her and Snow.

She follows David to the kitchen watching curiously as he pulls her mug down from the cabinet and fills it with black coffee. Sugar not forgotten, he pours a generous amount in and stirs.

He places her mug next to him by a stool, intending her to sit down and enjoy the coffee.

It occurs to her as they are sipping their mutual mugs of coffee in silence, that he knows her more than she thought he did.

The way he knows his daughter so quickly is almost scary, but more warming than anything is. Though, it might have something to do

She takes a long sip and smiles at the sugary concoction. "My hero, " she jokes.

He rolls his eyes at her dramatics. Deciding to let Emma choose where to lead their conversation was far safer than it was for him to attempt at one. Her walls were thick, almost impenetrable. No good ever came of pushing the boundaries of one's emotions.

While James knew that Emma preferred the company of her mother, they had after all been friends and roommates for almost a year. It still stung that Snow knew their daughter better. Connected on a level he had yet to do.

However, it seemed it was far easier for her to accept him as James rather then David. She hardly knew his alternate persona, except to hate him for breaking her best friends heart.

"You know, you really are Charming. Pouring a sleep and caffeine deprived girl coffee." Emma set her cup down on the counter.

James nudges her shoulder with his own, the air between them suddenly ever so slightly tense.

He should probably do something about that. "So are you, Princess. You are far more Charming then I, far fairer as well. "

Emma stared at James for a moment, eyes wide. Her cup paused in the air. Clearly in shock, she was trying to decide if he was serious or not.

Shocked at his words, she fumbled with her mug before placing it on the counter. Surprised or shocked, there was no way she could be sure. Not that she could decide. The words were odd to her; no one had said such things before. She felt a laugh bubble up in her.

She thought she could hold it back, pretend she had a cough; her plan went up in smokes. Instead, a loud laugh came from her; she covered her mouth hoping to muffle the sound.

He watches as Emma tries to catch her breath, and is glad to be able to make her smile, for once. She has been far too serious since the curse broke. Her laughs and smiles far and few between.

He is patient, and understanding of her self-doubt. Nevertheless, "I was serious, Emma!

Everyone looks to you. You are so level headed; it's part of who you are a natural born leader. Embrace it; that is probably the only characteristic that you got from us, and you didn't even know it. You don't see it, and that's ok, but, just know that is how people see you." he assures her proudly, if not a bit sad.

Her eyes tear up at his words. To have someone proud of her because she was herself was something she had wanted all her life. She had given up hope, and now, here he is, telling her such wonderful things. Even better, her father was the one who was proud. As awkward as it may seem at times, it was nice to have family.

"Thanks, David" Emma shifts in her seat, suddenly feeling very exposed with the sudden turn of their conversation, "That means a lot to me."

Ok, so she opened her heart for another moment. Just for her father. She smiled into her now cold coffee; she could wait a bit before going to work anyways. She was the sheriff of Story Brooke, after all.

She could be late; it wasn't as if she had to answer to anyone.

"What are you doing up anyways?" She asks curiously as she empties her mug and refills it with fresh caffeine.

He frowned, and sipped from his mug, taking just a moment to form his reason. "Nightmares." He states simply, deciding his morning beverage of choice was far more interesting then he.

"Oh, well, Henry has them too sometimes." She replies quietly, if not a bit awkward, trying to comfort him.

"Do you want more? I can make more." Emma motions to the empty coffee pot.

He shook his head; one cup was more then enough. She shrugged and sat back down next to him. There they sat for a while, just enjoying the silent company. They remained quiet for a while, before Emma's stomach decided to break the silence.

Charming chuckles, and finishes his coffee up. "Hungry? Are those doughnuts not cutting it for you, Sherriff?

"Okay, so, I tend to skip breakfast in favor of a doughnut at Granny's here and there. Sue me," Emma states flippantly.

"You could eat something. That's not reaching too far." He rests his chin on the palm of his hand, raising an eyebrow at Emma's confession of breakfast skipping.

"I could…" She says slowly, thinking of what to eat. She has been craving french toast for a while, but it was really no use making it if she was eating alone.

It seemed that with French toast there was always too much of one thing or another, or too much left over and not enough people to eat it. Therefore, it was selfish of her really. This is her not being nice, offering to make breakfast. This was her wanting a French toast fix.

See, selfish. Figures she might as well ask. Even if he says no, she was hungry. "So, I know you probably don't want to, but I make this to die for french toast. If you want, I could make some for us. We have all the ingredients." Emma questions hesitantly, an olive branch if you will. She was offering David a chance for one on one time.

Emma learned early on how to take care of herself. Making breakfast is something a person needed to know, and how to make it on a budget.

Some things a person should make in a kitchen, and not in a car. Although, maybe if she had a hotplate, and an outlet…

That might be worth trying, sometime. As long as she had her family with her, because now that they found one another, she highly doubted that they would let go of each other.

They held onto one another with a figurative death grip.

She looks at David, and realizes she would do almost anything to keep her parents happy. Yet, the olive branch she was offering was not for them. It was for herself. Breakfast was not intimidating. It was food, no pressure. She and David had yet to run out of topics; they quickly found out that the two of them were more alike then either had originally thought.

Emma hesitated over the stove, not sure if she should take his smile a 'yes I want to spend breakfast with you' or a 'no, but I love that you offered'.

When o and moved to the cabinets looking for a pan. As Mary Margret, Snow had constantly moved things around when frustrated or upset. Hence, she had to always go digging for utensils or pans. It was just easier to not cook. That did not mean she couldn't, even if she was a little out of practice.

Emma Swan could make a mean grilled cheese.

"I'd like that, I could help if you want," he offered tentatively. Perhaps they could do something like this every day. Even, once a week, he'd take anything, really. However, he would not ask today. Today, he would let Emma lead the way.

Emma paused, looking up from the bottom cabinet to the left of the stove. For a moment, James thought he might have pushed too much. Yet, when she smiled shyly at him and nodded a moment later, he couldn't get around the counter soon enough.

"I guess that means the bagel and cream cheese did nothing for you, huh?" Emma smartly nudged her father's shoulder with her own.

He rolled his eyes chuckling, "Very funny. That was good."

James watched Emma gather the ingredients for breakfast. Never seeming to lose her place, she must have used this recipe numerously.

He peered over he shoulder as she mixed the egg with the milk and vanilla extract. "So, you're cooking, huh? I thought you said you couldn't."

She scoffs, and whips around knocking her father off balance ever so slightly. " I never said that, I just said that I didn't. I can never keep track of where Mary is always moving things; I never know where the pots and pans end up."

"Now, if you want to help you can get some dishes for us, and pour some orange juice into glasses." She states, putting Charming to work.

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!" Charming mock salutes his daughter as he moved to the fridge.

"James," she drawls, groaning at his sarcasm. It seemed they were more alike then she knew. Her mother may have been right all this time. So long as Emma never told Snow that, she was safe.

He sets the table and waits patiently as Emma makes more then enough French toast for the two of them. He cocks an eyebrow in question when she sets the platter of French toast down in the middle of the table.

"Figured I might as well, you know, since I was up and everything."

"Ok, you don't have to tell me twice. I love good food." He pats his flat stomach as if that said it all. "Snow always made the best breakfast. Used to put the cooks in the palace to shame."

"Cinnamon?" She interrupts his thoughts, feeling slightly awkward as he reminisced about his and Snow's time together in the Enchanted Forest.

"On French Toast?"

"It's weird, I know, but so good! You have to try it."

"Did you forget the syrup, again?" He jokes getting up from the table and made his way to the pantry.

"I didn't! That was your job. Slacking, deputy?" Emma asks placing a few pieces of toast on her plate.

He pauses mid step and looks back at his daughter who is sitting in her chair, drinking her juice, as if she asked the most casual of questions.

"Deputy?" he chokes pulling his chair out to sit next to Emma.

The only indication that she heard is question was the slight pink flush on her cheeks. "Yeah, I do need the help." Emma shrugs as if it were no big deal, almost afraid that James might not want to.

"I'd love to, Ems." He says choking up at her openness. It was a rather large step forward in their relationship, and not an easy one. Just when he thought his morning couldn't get any better, it did.

Emma clears her throat. "So…Granny's for lunch today, deputy?"

"Sounds like a plan. Eat up, got an early start. Do you think you could put off work for an hour or two while I get dressed for the day?"

"Well, it's not like there is anything immediate to do. I guess I could. Just don't take too long, deputy!" Emma teases, pointing her fork at him with a grin.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

They finish their breakfast and Emma cleans up while she waits for James. Smiling to herself, she felt that this was a good morning. Now, if only they could grab some grilled cheeses at lunch today, she would be set for the day.

Well, so long as no one got drunk, or some evil Pawn Broker or Queen decided to take over the town, the day would be great.

Emma writes a note and leaves it on Henry's storybook. That kid never goes anywhere without it. James comes out from his , and Snow's pseudo room, (which is really part of the living room, but since it has a curtain up around a bed, they call it a room) dressed , and ready to go.

"All set?" He grabbed the keys to Emma's bug and tossed them to her.

"Yep, all ready. Did you let Snow know?" She asks in return as she pulls on her belted leather winter coat.

"Yep. Did you let Henry know?"

"Yep. All set, so what do you say we go, deputy. Can't be late for your first day of work, now can you?" She laughs, as they make their way out of the building and to her car. They were slowly building a relationship, and just because he was her father didn't mean she couldn't give him a different shift then her own if they fought. She told him so and he laughed. She just replied that she was the law of the town.

He was her father, and they were slowly building a relationship. If they fought, she would give him a different shift, perhaps the graveyard. She was the sheriff and could do what she wanted; she was the law, to an extent. She told him so, too.

He laughed her off; positive she would never abuse her power. Well, she might with Regina. That was understandable, Regina was, well, Regina. No one liked her with the exception of Henry. He loved and looked at her the way a child looked at their mother.

That was okay, too. She did raise him; Regina was trying so hard to be better. Do better.

Yet, she always seemed to fall just short of expectations.

Henry always seemed to be disappointed with her though. Regina let anger, jealousy, and desperation get the best of her,

They spent the day together and in the future when they fought, Emma would change his schedule giving him the graveyard shift. When they returned to the Enchanted Forest, they still had their moments, especially with Emma as head of his guard. Nevertheless, they would build a relationship together as father and daughter. No matter how awkward it was. They were blood, and that meant everything to Emma. After all, blood was thicker than water.


End file.
